Recycling

So, I understand some on the council are wanting recycling to be optional and believe only cardboard is being recycled and everything goes to the landfill. Some are saying recycling as we know it makes no difference for the environment and the decision to keep recycling an option is a concession and not because it's at all practical.

This makes no sense!

We are recycling! Overall 60-70% of us. 80-90% in some neighborhoods. We average 60 tons of recycling/mo. Last month we recycled 67 tons and 6,840 tons since inception of the one-hauler system. This can be confirmed with Waste Management.

All recyclables (not just cardboard) are being recycled. We are properly recycling our plastic No. 1 bottles (excluding plastic bags), newspaper, paper, cardboard, tin and aluminum. Only non-recyclables that are discarded on the sorting lines are sent to the landfill. This can be confirmed with the Solid Waste District.

To most, recycling obviously makes a difference for the environment. That is exactly why we do it.

We are talking $2.50 for recycling. We need it be provided to all so that it is efficient and economical for the hauler to provide and keep it at an affordable cost to all. Optional will increase the price or remove the recycling service all together.

Recyclables are a commodity. Its price will always fluctuate. For example, plastic bottles sold for .25-.30 cents per pound and now they sell for .18-.19c. Recyclables have value and our solid waste facility will continue to collect recyclables for processing even when the recyclables are not profitable, because of grants that are used for the facility operation.

I understand that people have to look at their pocketbooks. We are talking $2.50 for recycling and all the good it does. It has been that very price for 10 years now.

Everything goes up over time so it is not unexpected for our price to increase when we renegotiate. Waste Management just negotiated $4 with Little Rock for their recycling so it would seem our prices may not go up or not by much at all.

We are currently paying less for our services than 10 years ago when we started the one hauler. We paid $17-22/mo before the one hauler and that was just for trash. We originally negotiated a price of $15.30 for the one hauler services and we added three services. Our price even went down during this contract. Now we are only paying $14.56.

The practical thing would be to continue with the current system with all its services including recycling for all, not optional.

It has already been proven it is more economical, efficient, convenient, and curtails undesirable activities, reduces the number of trucks on our roads, improves our city's appearance, makes us more competitive with other cities, and encourages 8,000 homes to recycle, and gets us much more for less. Our city's goals need to be for the greater good which means something may not benefit you personally, but it may benefit the human race as a whole.

Carman Stump

Russellville

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The Courier - Your Messenger for the River Valley in Russellville, AR.MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use of or republication of all the local news printed in this newspaper as well as AP news dispatches.